Crossword Genius

Former magistrate thought about limits of lenience (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

aedile

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'former magistrate' is the definition.
'aedile' can be an answer for 'magistrate' (I have seen 'Roman magistrate ' mean 'aedile' so perhaps 'magistrate' could also mean 'aedile'). I'm not certain of the 'former' bit.

'thought about limits of lenience' is the wordplay.
'thought' becomes 'idea' (synonyms).
'about' says the letters should be written backwards.
'limits of' means to remove the middle letters.
'lenience' with its middle taken out is 'le'.
'idea' in reverse letter order is 'aedi'.
'aedi'+'le'='AEDILE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for aedile that I've seen before include "Roman magistrate" , "magistrate in Rome" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.